I know I shouldn’t watch CNN even in small, measured doses, but I passed through while switching around and saw a story about a Bush “comeback” because his poll numbers are up. Well, “up” is a relative term: what Bush has really done is gone from the 36-39% approval range of two or three weeks ago to the 40-42% approval range this week, while his negatives did not change as much. But what’s surprising here is that Bush has been bobbing between the upper 30’s and lower 40’s for months now, so the present numbers are completely insignificant in that context–and yet he’s being billed as making a “comeback”? Heck, CNN had him at 42% in October, and at 45% (along with Fox) back in September. So how is 40-42% now a comeback?

The press never gives him a break, do they?

Side note: At this point in his presidency, Clinton’s numbers were more or less the opposite of Bush’s now: five years in, Clinton enjoyed a 57% approval rating, with 31% disapproving, as he was being slammed by Congressional Republicans–and the press–for alleged scandals which were, in retrospect, completely trivial compared to what Bush has done over the past five years. At least the people saw things for what they were better than the media did. Still, one has to wonder what that 42% who approve of Bush today are thinking. I mean, what exactly has he done right? How can you consider all the things he’s done wrong and the few, if any, things he’s done right, and come out with an “I approve” rating? The answer, of course, is that people aren’t “considering.” Most of that 42% are die-hard conservatives, and the rest are simply not paying attention.